IT WAS NORM MINETA'S smiling face on the front page of the newspaper that brought it out of me. On Thursday, he was picked by President Clinton to be commerce secretary, making him the first Asian American nominated for a Cabinet post.

The first ever. I cried. Tears and everything, something I hadn't done since my father died.

I guess it was frustration coming out over the lack of influence Asian Americans have in politics and the media -- two of the more powerful forces that shape society and public opinion.

Mineta will be the highest ranking Asian American in the federal government if confirmed by the Senate to serve the final seven months of the Clinton administration. He served 21 years in the House representing San Jose and is expected to win easy Senate approval for commerce secretary.

This is an amazing accomplishment considering there are currently only three Asian Americans in the House and two in the Senate. In California, where most Asian Americans reside, Mike Honda of San Jose and George Nakano of Torrance are the only Asian American members of the state Legislature now.

"The substance of your actions today must never be underestimated or forgotten," Mineta said during the ceremony with Clinton to announce the nomination. "Mr. President, you have the eternal gratitude of not just Japanese Americans or Asian Pacific Americans, but, I believe, every American."

Mineta's accession is also a great accomplishment because only five decades ago, during World War II, he and his family were herded into prison camps just because they were Japanese. In what could be considered a trade of sorts, during the war, discriminatory laws that barred most Chinese immigrants from entering the country legally were lifted.

This is indicative of the love-hate relationship that this country has with Asian Americans. You like dim sum and sushi, but when Asian Americans are "taking over" at the University of California at Berkeley or elsewhere, something seems to be wrong. Mineta's nomination flies in the face of this.

"This nomination sends a signal to the country that Asian Americans are a significant part of American society," said John Tateishi, executive director of the Japanese American Citizens League. "And for us, it tells us that we've . . . finally reached a point where we have a foot in mainstream America." Tateishi's optimism is not without merit. For me though, there is still frustration. It's frustrating when you have John McCain, a senator and presidential candidate, going around calling Vietnamese people "gooks."

It's frustrating to see the case of Taiwanese American nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee, who, it can be argued, is being persecuted because of his race.

It's frustrating to see something like "Mr. Wong," an animated show on the Web site Icebox.com, that depicts a grossly stereotyped buck-toothed, thick-accented Chinese houseboy. It's satire that won't be censored by "political correctness," say the creators of show, which is a hot topic on Internet message boards frequented by Asian Americans.

Given that context, it's easy to understand why Mineta is the first. It's easy to see why someone would be amazed that I "speak English without an accent," or why someone would say "ching chong, ching chong" to me as though I would understand what that meant. Many tears have been shed over the years because of the oppression Asian Americans and other groups have endured in this country. This should be remembered as we celebrate the July 4th holiday. I'm sure there will be more tears shed as the country grapples with a population that looks less and less like it did on the first Independence Day.

I'll cry for the next Norm Mineta, and the next one after that. I'll cry even more when Asian Americans can stop counting and start to count.